Ark Alexandra Academy
Academy sponsor led · 1,315 pupils
86% stayed in education · Attainment 8 42.6
Foundation school
Priory School
- Pupils on roll
- 1,153of 1,160 places
- Free school meals
- 19.6%
- Year 11 cohort 2025
- 225
- Ofsted
- School remains Good, 8 November 2023Read the Ofsted report
What the data says
Priory School has no sixth form. Of the 234 pupils who finished Year 11 there in 2023, 64% moved to a sixth form college, 25% to a further education college and none started an apprenticeship.
Sixth form colleges are the main next step: 64% of leavers went to one, roughly three times the England rate of 13%.
Art and Design is unusually popular at GCSE: 22% of the year group took it, against 7% of pupils across England.
GCSE results in 2025 were in line with the national picture: Attainment 8 of 46.4 against 46.1 across England and 43.1 in East Sussex, with 52% of pupils getting grade 5 or above in both English and maths (England 45%).
Where pupils went after Year 11
Destinations of the 2023 Year 11 leavers, measured the following year: the share in a sustained place for at least two terms. Compared with all state-funded schools in East Sussex and England.
School sixth formSixth form collegeFurther education collegeOther educationApprenticeshipEmploymentNo sustained destination
| Measure | Priory School | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils in the cohort | 234 | 5,083 | 607,348 |
| Any sustained destination | 93% | 90% | 92% |
| Stayed in education | 91% | 85% | 86% |
| — school sixth form | 1% | 14% | 34% |
| — sixth form college | 64% | 24% | 13% |
| — further education college | 25% | 44% | 37% |
| — other education | 1% | 3% | 2% |
| Apprenticeship | 0% | 2% | 3% |
| Employment | 1% | 3% | 3% |
| No sustained destination | 5% | 7% | 6% |
| Destination unknown | 3% | 3% | 3% |
GCSE results 2025
| Measure | Priory School | East Sussex | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attainment 8 (average points per pupil) | 46.4 | 43.1 | 46.1 |
| Grade 5 or above in English and maths | 52% | 42% | 45% |
| Grade 4 or above in English and maths | 69% | 63% | 65% |
| Entered the English Baccalaureate subjects | 64% | 37% | 41% |
| EBacc average point score | 4.35 | 3.80 | 4.09 |
| Disadvantaged pupils in the cohort | 21% | 26% | 28% |
| Attainment 8 — disadvantaged pupils | 25.6 | 30.3 | 34.9 |
| Attainment 8 — other pupils | 51.8 | 47.6 | 50.4 |
| Pupils with high prior attainment (Key Stage 2) | — | — | — |
| English as an additional language | 4% | 7% | 19% |
Progress 8 is not available for 2025 and 2026: these cohorts had no Key Stage 2 tests in 2020 and 2021, so there is no baseline. Attainment 8 shows results without taking pupils’ starting points into account.
Subjects taken at GCSE
Entries in 2025 as a share of the Year 11 cohort, and the share of entries graded 7–9 and 4–9, compared with all entries in England.
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England | Grades 7–9 | England | Grades 4–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language | 224 | 100% | 89% | 24% | 20% | 71% |
| Mathematics | 222 | 99% | 88% | 24% | 22% | 76% |
| English Literature | 212 | 94% | 86% | 26% | 21% | 71% |
| Combined Science | 176 | 78% | 65% | 15% | 9% | 59% |
| Geography | 148 | 66% | 41% | 21% | 25% | 61% |
| Spanish | 65 | 29% | 19% | 28% | 27% | 66% |
| Art and Design | 50 | 22% | 7% | 44% | 24% | 98% |
| History | 47 | 21% | 41% | 60% | 26% | 83% |
| French | 43 | 19% | 18% | 44% | 29% | 86% |
| Media Studies | 38 | 17% | 4% | 34% | 20% | 76% |
| Biology | 38 | 17% | 23% | 45% | 45% | 92% |
| Chemistry | 37 | 16% | 23% | 46% | 47% | 97% |
| Physics | 37 | 16% | 23% | 57% | 46% | 97% |
| Design and Technology | 35 | 16% | 11% | 17% | 23% | 43% |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | 33 | 15% | 8% | 12% | 21% | 73% |
| Physical Education | 32 | 14% | 11% | 3% | 24% | 59% |
| Classical Civilisation | 29 | 13% | 1% | 34% | 40% | 90% |
| Drama | 28 | 12% | 7% | 39% | 27% | 89% |
| Latin | 24 | 11% | 1% | 13% | 74% | 46% |
| Photography | 24 | 11% | 6% | 21% | 19% | 96% |
| German | 23 | 10% | 5% | 48% | 33% | 91% |
| Sociology | 17 | 8% | 4% | 29% | 21% | 71% |
| Music | 17 | 8% | 5% | 47% | 33% | 94% |
| Computer Science | 15 | 7% | 13% | 27% | 30% | 53% |
| Dance | 15 | 7% | 1% | 60% | 27% | 80% |
| Religious Studies | 7 | 3% | 31% | 57% | 32% | 86% |
| Russian | 3 | 1% | 0% | — | 87% | — |
| Italian | 2 | 1% | 0% | — | 53% | — |
| Graphic Communication | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 23% | — |
| Citizenship Studies | 1 | 0% | 3% | — | 19% | — |
| Chinese | 1 | 0% | 1% | — | 75% | — |
| Statistics | 1 | 0% | 5% | — | 20% | — |
Technical awards and other Key Stage 4 qualifications
| Subject | Entries | Share of cohort | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports Studies | 14 | — | — |
| Hospitality / Catering Studies | 2 | — | — |
| Sports Studies | 1 | — | — |
Other secondary schools in East Sussex
Beacon Academy
Academy converter · sixth form · 1,642 pupils
88% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.2
Bexhill High Academy
Academy converter · 1,441 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 41.7
Chailey School
Community school · 862 pupils
84% stayed in education · Attainment 8 49.3
Claverham Community College
Community school · 1,147 pupils
92% stayed in education · Attainment 8 50.3
Gildredge House
Free schools · 1,169 pupils
90% stayed in education · Attainment 8 46.7
Sources: Department for Education school and college performance tables 2024/2025 (Key Stage 4 and 16–18 results, subject entries, destination measures for 2023 leavers); Get Information About Schools register as at 19 September 2026; Ofsted management information as at 31 August 2026. Small numbers are suppressed by DfE and shown as “—”. How to read these figures.